2016

This past year was a whirlwind of beautiful and delightful destinations. I feel like I’ve already spoken so much about what I’ve been grateful for in my self reflective blog posts from the past few months, that I felt like focusing instead on the places that I got to explore in the past 12 months. New places and old. With each place, I feel like I’ve built upon the foundation of myself. My independence and confidence heightened as more parts of the world entered my eyes and brain. My travel have given me a perspective that happened to just put everything in a place where there became no room for taking things for granted. My spontaneous trips have made even more pronounced the fact that taking chances can very well be worth the gamble. That no matter what, if you open your eyes and heart to what may seem strange and unknown, new places can seem like old friends in a very surprising way. The most amazing part is how different every place is from each other. Yet with time and energy spent enough, you can really find parts of yourself in each and every culture. What seems unlikely on the first day may become second nature by the third. But that adrenaline rush that comes with adventure . . . it’s priceless. I’ve fallen in love again with the city I grew up in. I visited Paris three times this past year, and no three visits have been the same at all. I learned that the world can be even more vibrant as the most abstract of art. That you can literally feel like you are walking in a painting. I traveled to keep from feeling sheltered. I traveled to find love. I traveled to find ambition. I traveled to see hope in new starts. I traveled to keep from getting bored. I traveled to hide from the cold. I traveled to escape work. I traveled for work. I traveled to reconnect with family. I traveled to take pictures. I traveled to head bang to bands I like. And bands that I dislike. I traveled for no darn reason at all. And I have come to find that any reason you have to travel, take it. And immerse yourself with full force. You’ll be surprised at all the parts of yourself you will become aware of that you never were aware of before. And that’s the most amazing part.

I always like to keep count of all the places I visit in a year. It makes me want to pinch myself. Here are some highlights from a few of my favorite travel destinations from the past year. You can look up these travels by entering the destination in my search bar at the top right hand corner of my blog.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

FLORENCE, ITALY

LA FORTUNA and PENINSULA PAPAGAYO, COSTA RICA

LONDON, ENGLAND

REIMS and PARIS, FRANCE

SASQUASH and VANCOUVER, CANADA

I hope your 2017 is full of love and motivation and confidence. Surround yourself with things that make you happy no matter what 🙂 xx

You’re never going to be 100% ready and it’s never going to be just the right time, but that’s the point. It means that every moment is also the right moment. If you want it, you just have to do it.

I read this quote somewhere, and it stuck with me. Every moment we have starts as a blank canvas. It’s color is nude. Whether it’s the right or wrong moment, that’s up to us to determine. Nobody else’s. Each moment has the potential to turn into any color we want it to be, as long as we believe in the power of our own decision making. On days when we feel out of control of situations, and as if no puzzle piece seems to fit correctly, remember that blank canvas and refocus your thoughts into something else. Hope and determination are the most colorful things. And nude never felt so enthusiastic before.

A woman can define herself by many things. By the unsuspecting smirk that’s ever so mysterious but also approachable. By the way she runs her hands through her hair. The way she looks into the eyes of the one she’s in conversation with. By the color of the lipstick on her lips before going out at night. The way she kisses when she’s really in it. The sparkle in her eye when something delights her. The way she walks into the room as if she owns it . . . as if she had always owned it. The way she never gives away too much of her all at once, but rather lets it trickle out slowly as time goes on. Opening her heart more and more each time. The way words hang off the edge of her lips as she thinks about what to say next. Then there are women who define themselves by the scent that lingers from their neck and wrists. I like to say that I define myself by more of less a few of the things that I called out above, and they all add up to something almost indescribable. And if you think about it, these things sometimes are not things we as woman call out about ourselves, but what others call out about us. That is why I love perspective. It adds dimensions and tells a new story about the same thing and it never, ever gets old. And like the Elizabeth & James Nirvana Bourbon scent . . . it never, ever gets old. I wear it everyday. A base of vanilla bourbon that smells just like it sounds . . . feminine and sexy. The hint of oakwood is earthy and dark. All together, it feels organic and naturally heated . . . a warming effect that fits right in with wintertime. A subtle explosion of woodsiness that we all subconsciously crave when it’s cold outside; with just enough masculinity in its blend to bring to life that special caress of a man. I would love for him to wear this scent, too. As a woman, I endlessly am looking for ways to express myself as a demure lady as well as a bold female. Held back in some parts, but free and open with others. A little vanilla. And a little bourbon. Being a woman, I am always able to have both, and then some.

A few more days lie ahead of us before the new year arrives. A whole week of nothing pressing on my to-do list. I can edit photos all week in my pajamas, and no one will ever need to know. Netflix shows are binge washed, and getting ahead of myself with work is put on the back burner. Little pangs inside of me wish I came up with the idea earlier of heading to Mexico or Hawaii for this week with my family. But then I realize how good it feels to not have an itinerary. That maybe the ultimate destination is right here, on this couch that I’m sitting on, my mom cooking pancakes in the background, and the television playing George Michael song while I contemplate the moment for what it is. A moment that needs no changing. It can take a lot of guts to be content with your surroundings. To realize that sometimes you don’t need the extra trimmings, the extra space, the comforts that we rely too much on. That something simple is everything you needed all along. That editing and looking at these pictures from Miami from a few weeks ago is the closest thing I’ll be getting to a Mexico or Hawaii vacation this month, and be totally okay with that fact.